Post navigation

Thoughts from the Publisher’s Desk

Let’s take a look inside some numbers making news, locally and nationally, this week:

— 60: Amount of people who attended the Assateague Coastal Trust (ACT) District 1 Candidates forum on Tuesday to hear candidates Phil Cropper, Rex Hailey and Troy Purnell talk about town issues. All in all, I thought Cropper, who works in the medical industry and interior design field, and Purnell, a developer of numerous properties in Berlin, did the best job of articulating their views and dealing with specifics rather than generalities.

— Zero: The number of times ACT Director of Development Steve Farr had to interrupt the candidates for going over the allotted time, confirming most of the comments were short and sweet during the 75-minute forum.

— 1.67: Amount of money for a gallon of unleaded gasoline at a Route 50 gas station on Thanksgiving Day between Salisbury and Berlin.

— 2.2 million: The amount of money the school system would have to cut in county money to meet the requested 3-percent reduction in spending for all departments.

— 27: Percent of respondents at mdcoastdispatch.com who answered visit OC because it’s quiet to the question, “What do you do in the winter?”. More than 220 votes were cast as of yesterday. Other results were 26 percent, go to mountain resorts; 20 percent, stay home and save money; and 9 percent, a three-way tie between travel to warm places, stay busy with kids and school and attend college.

— 46: Former New York City subway cars added to the Bass Grounds off Ocean City’s coast last week.

— Two: women who have served as president of the Worcester County Commission with Louise Gulyas’ appointment this week to the post. Jeanne Lynch was the first.

— 3,455: Number of people who visited Ocean City in July of 2008 over July 2007.

— 10,929: Number of people less who visited Ocean City during August of 2008 compared to August 2007.

— 123,792: Average weekend population in Ocean City in October 2008, according to demoflush estimates. That’s down from 128,469 in October 2007.

— 7.04: Inches of rain that fell at the Ocean City Municipal Airport in November. The historic average for the month is 3.31 inches.

— 3.5: Millions of dollars the 49 fraternal organizations on the Eastern Shore reportedly donated to charity in 2006 from their approximately 250 slot machines.

— 50: Height in feet of the landmark Winterfest of Lights tree at Northside Park.

–85: Millions of dollars spent on the two-year renovation of the Smithsonian Institute of American History, which reopened last month in Washington DC.

— 2009: Year Florida’s highest court will decide if gay couples should be able to adopt. The measure could eventually make it all the way to the country’s Supreme Court.

— 12: Age of boy arrested in a Florida school after reportedly continually breaking wind, causing a distraction in school. He was reportedly charged with Disruption of a School Function.

— 175,000: Cost in dollars Ocean City has been quoted by its ad agency for a new state-of-the-art website. Other bids will be accepted once the request for proposals is sent out.

— 6,119: Inpatient and outpatient surgeries performed in fiscal year 2008 at Atlantic General Hospital, according to a mailing distributed to residents this week.

—32,841-Emergency room visits to AGH during fiscal year 2008,
— 681: Year round jobs created at AGH in its 15-year existence.

— 7.5: Millions of dollars a Pennsylvania woman is seeking from the Colorado-based maker of Crocs after her 6-year-old son had his shoe caught in an escalator earlier this year at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. His toe was severely hurt in the accident. According to The Sun, legal documents show more than 200 people worldwide have reported injuries on escalators while wearing the popular shoes.